Books by Brights

Father, In a Far Distant Time I Find You

Description

Utopian novel exploring the meaning of evolution.

Secularism is feared for calling into question values shaped over thousands of years. What would happen if those values collapsed, critics challenge us? “Father…” tackles that question in the tradition of the utopian novel along the lines of such models as “Gulliver’s Travels,” “Brave New World” and “1984.” Utopian novels such as these project into the future issues people shrink from facing in their own time. In “Father…” the issue is evolution as Creator. The action includes love stories, battles, legends, unusual buildings and encounters in town squares as one society after another builds on the achievements of its predecessors to re-fashion human nature and consciousness around evolutionary principles. The result is an entertaining excursion into science, language, creativity, the history of consciousness and the nature of evil.

For Brights, "Father..." can be first a reality check. Is secularism ready to transition from private conviction to public policy? If it is, then "Father..." could help Brights make a case for evolution being the most promising basis on which to build a future self. "Father..." could turn out to be both the classic utopian fiction of our time, and a landmark in the forging of a Bright identity.

About the Author

Born son of an English clergyman, Shaun Johnston studied biochemistry at London's University College before moving to New York City and becoming a medical and science writer. He is currently exploring publication prospects for “Self Help for Secularists: the who, what, when, where, how and why of an evolved self” (sample posted at www.evolvedself.com). He lives in New York's mid Hudson Valley.